Bread of Salt

A coming of age, rite of passage, initiation, bar mitzvah story of a naive boy fiercely infatuated with a girl whose world he can never be part of. The harsh realities of the world is lost on the boy, who thinks that if he studies hard enough, or plays the violin well enough, he will prove himself to be as good as Aida, the girl he idolizes. His naivete borders on pathetic at times. In a world of indios and mestizos, he is disillusioned, thinking that he can actually be a part of her world when actually, the most he can be is hired help. It is quite frustrating to see him make a fool out of himself countless times, mostly due to the fact that he is too...deluded to perceive the chasm between him and Aida. The story is rich with symbolism which emphasize the sad plight of the boy. I do appreciate however, the very Pinoy touches with the pan de sal and the boy's family and background.

Cries of Children...

Light: pure and infinite as the future. The story revolves around flashforwards to the future of Ricky and some of the important women in his life. There was a sort of existentialist feel to the story, or at least in Ricky's case. Knowing the future makes you dread it for Ricky, somehow hoping he could know about what was to happen to him. But it also brings up all these questions about ethics and the future. Nothing is set in stone. Ricky's knowledge of his future might inadvertently compel him to make it happen. There is a beautiful danger about knowledge--too little or too much is enough to cause chaos for anyone. It also brings into awareness that we are mere pawns in the game of life and fate: we can never have full control over everything in our lives. No matter how hard we try, there will always be times when we will be a wee bit further behind.

Casablanca (Movie)

I honestly cannot remember another time when I was this touched by a movie. It has been a day since watching it, and I still can't get Rick and Ilsa's story out of my head. It surprised me to be so affected by an "old" movie. The beauty and timelessness of the film is quite surprising. Timeless in the sense that even until today, people (or at least me) can still relate to the story. It could be a typical jilted-lover-meets-ex-after-a-long-time-chaos-ensues type of story and yet the ending surprises us in the end. There's all this tension between Rick and Ilsa and even though you only see them together for only a few minutes, you can kind of feel that they really loved each other. (Not to mention those unforgettable lines, "Here's looking at you, kid" and "We'll always have Paris") I have this newfound appreciation for classics and it makes me realize that old movies sometimes have even more substance than the movies we have now. This is one of the very few romance movies I've watched where the story actually defies the romance Happy Ending formula and the lead characters don't end up together (another one being My Best Friend's Wedding). The great sacrifice Rick makes shows that he can go beyond himself and be a bigger person, putting the greater good above his own desires. I guess this is the "inevitable surprise" that we talked about in class--I was a bit surprised they didn't end up together but then, I also think that was the only way or the only right way for the story to end.